Do birds prefer open spaces or areas with many trees?

Question: How quickly will birds locate a bird feeder placed in a certain area? Will they first appear at a feeder near trees, or one more in the out in the open? Which one will be visited more often?

Procedure: I will get two bird feeders, and fill them both with bird seed, using a small measuring cup. I'll record how much bird seed I put in. Over time I will try to observe the feeders and see which one seems to be visited more often. After some time I will dump the bird seed out of each feeder and measure how much seed is left. I'll compare that to how much was put in at the beginning of the experiment. This will tell me how much was eaten out of each over time.

Hypothesis: I'm thinking that birds will locate and visit the feeder near trees more often. I'm thinking this because birds will most likely be greater in number around lots of trees. I think this feeder will be visited more often as well because birds take shelter in trees and having food there with mean not having to go look for it.

Materials: Two bird feeders, bird seed, small measuring cup.

Variables:

Independent: Location of bird feeders

Dependent: Amount of bird seed measured

Controlled: Type of bird seed, type of feeders